BJP chief to flag off relief, U'khand shaping UP politics?

Lucknow, June 26: Two days after the Congress top leadership flagged off relief consignment for the victims of the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, it is time for the BJP to follow suit. Party president Rajnath Singh is set to flag off relief goods for the Himalayan state from Lucknow on Wednesday. State president Laxmi Kant Bajpai said Singh would flag off the relief consignment and first installment of the fund collected by the party for the state.

He said the party was working on immediate and long-term plan to reach the relief to the affected people in the state. He said the BJP and RSS would provide immediate relief including foodgrain, medicines, blankets, covers and fare to the people and then focus on their rehabilitation.

Bajpai said it was the BJP which took the initiative for relief after its MLAs donated one-month salary to the relief fund. The BJP leader demanded an all-party meeting on the issue of relief, complaining that the UP government did not make enough arrangements for the relief of pilgrims from the state even as they formed a majority of those left stranded in the neighbouring state.

He also sought that the provision that the MLAs can donate Rs 5 lakh from their fund in times of crisis should be amended and the state government should change it from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Bajpai alleged that the government could amend rules to provide vehicles to the MLAs but not arrangement to extend relief work.

Bajpai also accused the two main parties in the state, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), of responding late to the calamity. He said while the BSP was busy addressing Brahmin gatherings, the ruling SP was distributing laptops.